The Divemaster program welcomes you to the ranks of a PADI dive professional, come join us on Utila for your PADI Divemaster training, a change in lifestyle awaits. The PADI Divemaster rating is the most sought after professional qualification in the dive industry. Divemaster training can be conducted in 2 different options, Option 'A' of 12 days or Option 'B' of 4 weeks. Option 'A' is more suitable for candidates who have time constraints, yet have close to 50 dives and study all the theory independently prior to starting the course whereas option 'B' is ideal for candidates with close to 20 dives and who have the time to mentor with our Instructors on an internship, working with real students.

Take the first step in your dive career and become a PADI Divemaster. Working closely with a PADI Instructor, you'll expand your dive knowledge and hone your skills as you become a dive professional. PADI Divemaster training develops your leadership abilities by training you to supervise dive activities and assist instructors with student divers.

• Work at local dive centers, on live-aboard dive boats, yachts and at exotic resort locations
• Assist PADI Instructors with students
• Lead PADI Scuba Divers on guided dive tours
• Teach and certify PADI Skin Divers
• Teach PADI Discover Snorkeling programs
• Conduct PADI Scuba Review programs for certified divers
• Lead certified divers on Discover Local Diving experiences
• Teach Emergency First Response programs after successful completion of an Emergency First Response Instructor course.

Why Choose Utila Dive Centre for your Divemaster training?

As a PADI Divemaster you want to make sure that you get off to the best start with you dive career and that means looking for the right dive facility and staff to undertake your PADI ‘Divemaster Course’ and continuing education programs with. Every dive operation differs from what it can offer on it's Divemaster program and whether if it is best suited for you, to the philosophies behind its diver education programs, to its business principles, it’s staff and it’s conservation efforts within the dive community. We don’t claim or boast to be the best or the biggest, there are other much more commercial, bigger and more business orientated dive schools where you can undertake your PADI Divemaster course but we prefer a more personalized, real world approach to Divemaster training. All our Instructors and Divemasters were once in a similar position so we want you to be as fully informed as possible before making the decision to ‘Gopro’. We hope this gives you an idea of what you receive when you take your training with us in regards to our staff, experience, facility, reputation, attitude, ambience/atmosphere and training philosophies.

Our PADI Divemaster course includes the following;

• Free Resort Operations program, gain first hand experience working with resort divers
• Resume preparation
• Dive for 'free for life' offer
• Experienced 1 on 1 mentorship with minimum rating IDC Staff Instructor
• Free internet access
• Special rates on diving equipment
• Free arrival accommodation packages
• Discounted rate PADI specialty training on up to 5 PADI Specialties 
• Employment program

Our Reputation and Record

Utila Dive Centre was established in 1990, by Ricardo Gonzalez (Spain), Benito Bellenoue (France) and Mike Spurgin (UK) who as PADI Instructors wanted to offer diving in a professional, safe and enjoyable manner to travelers visiting Utila and to conduct a high standard Divemaster program that would lead to Instructor training. Since then Utila Dive Centre has grown to become a full service dive operation, with a beautiful hotel the Mango Inn complete with swimming pool, and has probably trained more divers than any other dive facility in the Bay Islands and Caribbean. Utila Dive Centre works closely with Divers Alert Network and Project Aware, to improve and educate divers about safety and has been awarded the rating of a PADI Career Development Center, only a few facilities worldwide have earned this coveted rating from PADI, and work on many community projects with the ‘Bay Islands Conservation Association’ and closely with PADI’s Project Aware. 2007 sees UDC entering it’s 16^th year of training dive professionals and in 2006 more PADI Rescue Divers, particularly those living on Utila, chose to conduct their ‘Divemaster’ with us than any other facility in the Bay Islands and Central America. We take this as a tribute to the high quality of our staff, facility and their much deserved reputation. The fact that 80% of our Divemasters and Instructor candidates are referred to us by ‘word of mouth’ shows the commitment, comfort and quality that we put into our professional courses. We ensure that in addition to professionalism, safety, high standards, all our students, whether beginners or professionals leave UDC having had a rewarding, exciting, educational and fun experience with an open door to ever returning in the future. As a Divemaster trained at Utila Dive Centre you have an open door to coming back with us and diving ‘free of charge’ for life!

Our Facility

Our 3 classrooms are all modern, air-conditioned and equipped with TV’s, DVD’s and VCR’s for multi media learning. We have 4 fully equipped dive boats, 24 hour back up power generator, Bauer compressors with 8000cubif ft air bank, 60 sets of ScubaPro rental equipment, private locker rooms, quiet study areas, the only dive retail outlet on Utila and a beautiful dock area constructed over the water with social amenities. Our ‘swimming/training pool’ is a shallow protected clear body of water lined with palm trees, white sands and will prepare you best for when you yourself come to guide diving in exactly this same kind of environment.Our on site training area ensures that we can have as much time as possible with you in the water to work on skill development and make you the best Divemaster we can.

Our ‘Divemaster Course’ curriculum

There are 2 options for completing your Divemaster training with us, Option A ‘Practical training exercises’ and Option B ‘Internship’. Option A is for Divemaster candidates who start the program with at least 50 dives but have time constraints so the program can be completed in approximately 12 days, however obtaining the Divemaster course manuals and independent study is required prior to arriving on Utila and starting the course. Option B ‘Internship’ is for Divemaster candidates who have more time available as we schedule this option over a minimum of 4 weeks (though we can extend for as long as you like), you’ll need at least 20 dives to begin the program. As part of the internship you’ll be assisting our experienced team of Instructors as they conduct PADI training programs with student divers. We’ll provide Instructor led class sessions to help you assimilate the most from your independent study so if Physics sounds like a foreign language then you’ll soon become multi-lingual thanks to the expert tuition of our staff. You’ll also get experience working as a dive guide by guiding certified divers on our dive trips to Utila’s famous North side dive sites. At the Utila Dive Centre on your Divemaster course, we put no time limit on the length of time you can stay with us so the more you put into this program the more you get out of it. We are not a factory and train all of our trainees as if they plan to go on to become Instructors. As part of the service we provide to our Divemasters you’ll be offered specialty training in areas of diving where you have accumulated additional experience e.g. Fish Identification, Deep diving, Equipment maintenance etc… If you dream of working in exotic environments, beautiful dive experiences and meeting people from all walks of life then the PADI Divemaster course could give you the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of. We’ve extended our Divemaster program to cover more effective teaching techniques, discuss diving in different worldwide environments, look at greater career opportunities in diving including ‘diver safety’ and ‘technical diving’ and resume preparation. All this is done in a low stress, relaxed and most importantly ‘fun’ environment.

Our ‘Instructor Team’

If you’ve been impressed with what you’ve read about our Divemaster course so far then what you’re about to read will really make you smile and look forward to training with us. PADI require that an Instructor holds the bare minimum rating of PADI ‘Open Water Scuba Instructor’ in order to train Divemaster’s however at Utila Dive Centre our Instructors have to be at least a PADI ‘IDC Staff Instructor’ in order to train a Divemaster, this means your tuition will come from Instructors that train Instructors and Assistant Instructors. Our staff have received recognition from PADI for their teaching efforts and numerous ‘certificates of excellence’ which you’ll see immediately once you walk into our dive center on display, and between them have to date issued over 5000 PADI diver certifications at all levels. Our 2 resident in house PADI Course Directors (the highest Instructor rating) personally oversee all our Divemaster training programs and closely work with our Instructor team in a dynamic fashion so our courses are constantly evolving and improving, the end result meaning a better trained dive professional. Our Instructors and support team are multi-lingual and come from cultures as countries and cultures as diverse as the USA, Argentina, the UK, Australia, Germany, Canada, Switzerland and Israel. This gives us a unique advantage in making our Divemaster programs much more real world rather than bore you with too much traditional academics and allows you to draw and learn from years of diverse teaching experience. Our Instructors are also qualified to teach both recreational and technical diving up to ‘Trimix Instructor’, including DSAT Gas Blending, and marine science courses through the educational agency 'Beautiful Oceans' (no dive facility in Central America can offer this commitment to your success, personal attention and development!!!) and the full range of ‘Divers Alert Network’ programs. When our staff, aren’t working on our Divemaster courses or instructing beginners or diving on Utilas reefs, both shallow and deep technical dives, working on community projects, promoting diver safety or simply enjoying the quality, beauty and tranquility of working as a PADI Divemaster and enjoying the Caribbean lifestyle. If our dive professionals were told they weren’t too be paid for their work they would still place as much commitment and time into making you the best Instructor possible, why? Simply because we love what we do and our passion for diving is genuine and real, just make sure we all get a cold ‘sunset beer’ at the end of a good days diving.

Our Equipment Store

As a PADI Career Development Center it’s not just great Divemaster training that we provide but we also retail high quality ScubaPro, Aqualung, Suunto and Uwatec dive equipment. If you need to purchase any dive equipment then we will extend a 20% discount to you off the recommended retail price in order to give you the best possible start to your career as a Divemaster.

Utila Dive Centres Commitment to You after the Divemaster course

Our commitment to you doesn’t end at the end of the course. If you are staying on Utila looking to find work we will do our best to help you, our staff and facility have a high standing in the dive community of the Bay Islands and can try to find suitable work. After the Divemaster program you are welcome to stay with us for as long as your time frame allows and you can assist our Instructors and certified divers in their dive experiences. This gives you valuable experience and a work reference from our PADI Career Development Center and Gold Palm Resort and will make it easier for you to find your own position. This is another unique advantage that we offer you at Utila Dive Centre that other facilities are unable to offer and are often envious of. If you plan on traveling to other dive resorts in the world then it’s possible our Course Director and IDC Staff Instructors, through their own experience of working all around the world, can help/advise and counsel you on teaching in differing environments and help guide you in the right direction to secure employment. As part of our commitment to you we send regular newsletters keeping you informed of changes on Utila but most importantly you become part of a professional network of divers (Divemasters/Assistant Instructors/Instructors) that have all trained at Utila Dive Centre. In addition to having our Staff who have worldwide contacts and teaching experience we can use this network to place you in touch with other professionals who are working all around the world to help you find employment or simply seek advice from. Should you decide to return to the beauty of Utila then you'll be happy to know that Utila Dive Centre Divemasters are 'Divemasters for life!!!'.

More Options For You

In the last week of your Divemaster training you have the option to enroll in 5 PADI specialty classes at cost price, these courses can make you a better wreck diver, deep diver, night diver or certify you to dive on enriched air. As a PADI Divemaster or leadership level professional with another organization you have several different options to begin your PADI Instructor training. You can go directly into the full PADI IDC (11 days) or instead do the PADI Assistant Instructor course (4 days) and at a later date complete the PADI OWSI portion (7 days). At Utila Dive Centre we prefer to keep our AI/IDC class sizes smaller and more personal by offering more programs per year and by giving you more choice over your path to becoming a professional and by offering up to 10 IDC’s per year we do incur greater expenses but we prefer to do this in order to keep our group sizes smaller and give a better service. If you compare this to other dive resorts you’ll probably find few other facilities give as many scheduling options or flexibility. We have a maximum group size of 6 Instructor candidates to 1 Course Director, this is lower than the required 8:1 ration from PADI, why?...well we like to provide better service, simply put after every IDC our staff meet and are constantly reviewing how we can improve our programs, it’s this dynamic thinking that helps take you from a great Divemaster to an even greater Instructor and show you how ‘attitude’ is one of the most important attributes a dive professional can have.

Our Pledge

Our Course Directors and IDC Staff Instructors will always be available for consultation during your Divemaster training so if you’re still now sure of the location of where you’d like to ‘GoPro’ ask yourself the following questions?

1) Is my Divemaster course extended beyond 4 weeks training to an unlimited time frame?

2) Do I have 2 experienced PADI Course Directors overseeing my Divemaster training?

3) Can I get tuition on my Divemaster course in other languages, if needed?

4) Will my Divemaster group size be smaller than that of 4 candidates?

5) Can I assist on PADI courses and dive after my Divemaster certification is completed for additional experience?

6) Can I dive for free if I return to my Divemaster training facility?

7) Will I have an on-site confined water training area at my availability for additional skill development and extended practice?

8) Is the dive facility I want to be trained in able to offer the complete system of PADI ‘continuing education’ including Instructor courses and PADI specialty training in Wreck diving, Night diving, Deep diving, Equipment repair, Gas Blending, 'Beautiful Oceans' marine science courses and the DAN O2 provider classes?

9) Are my Instructors able to help me with career advice and are they well connected in the local region and in other dive resorts around the world?

10) Am I confident my Divemaster course will be professional, knowledgeable, interesting, real world and fun?

11) Have PADI recognized my dive facility and Instructors with certificates of excellence and recognition?

If you can answer yes to all the above then we hope that you’re able to join us in the near future for the beginning of an exciting time and start to your dive career as a PADI Divemaster. Remember it’s important that you feel 110% comfortable with the facility and people where you undertake your dive training so we hope this gives you an idea of what we have to offer you as a Divemaster at Utila Dive Centre. Unfortunately the one thing we cannot give you an idea of is the great ambience and atmosphere that exists at Utila Dive Centre and probably one of our biggest assets is intangible, no matter how well equipped our facility is, no building, boats, classrooms, equipments can match the care, attention, service and quality that we put into every PADI Divemaster Program and all the staff at our resort who work so hard to achieve this.

At the Utila Dive Centre we put no time limit on the length of time you can stay with us so the more you put into your Divemaster program the more you get out of it. As part of the service we provide to our Divemasters you'll be offered specialty training, at cost, in areas of diving where you have accumulated additional experience. If you dream of working in exotic environments, beautiful dive experiences and meeting people from all walks of life then the PADI Divemaster course could give you the lifestyle you've always dreamed of. After completing this program you will be ready to enroll in our PADI Instructor Development Course (PADI IDC) and gain additional skills and knowledge to work as a PADI Instructor, what more are waiting for, come join us at Utila Dive Centre, in Utila, Honduras, Central America for the life changing experience you dream about every day!

Are you interested in this course?

Please contact us to reserve your spot!

Call us +1-305-4205959, we'll call right back for a personal discussion about your professional training goals, specific course prices, requirements and other questions, or e-mail gopro@utiladivecenter.com

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